The Life of Uchiha Sasuke
by Roxius
Summary: With strange dreams haunting him, and a mysterious tower looming in the distance of Konoha town, Uchiha Sasuke simply tries to live his life the best he can. AU. Please R & R! An old idea, original plan for The Life of Aizen.
1. The Beginning

Uchiha Sasuke, sixteen years old, had been awake long before he heard his older brother and guardian Itachi knocking on his bedroom door. For the past five nights, the youth had been experiencing the same dream over and over. It was a dream that his young mind couldn't even begin to comprehend. In fact, whenever he woke up, the specific details of the dream would always leave his memory. He knew that there was rain, and blood, and tears, but whenever he tried to recall what took place in the dream, his chest would tighten and feelings of indescribable rage would begin to emerge. It made not a single lick of sense.

Sasuke continued to stare mindlessly at the crack and hole-infested ceiling of his bedroom when he felt something wet nuzzle his left arm. He turned his head; staring back at him was his pet dog, Karin. She was an abandoned mutt, somewhat bipolar in personality, yet still extremely loyal to a fault. Standing in the dim lighting of the room, her strawberry-red coat still seemed to shine with luster. She barked at him once. Sasuke felt a smile tug at his lips despite himself. He ran his fingers along the top of the dead's furry head.

"Ha ha...yeah, I know, you're hungry, right, girl? Okay. Let's go!"

Sasuke climbed out of bed. He took a quick glance out of his window. It was just another day in the town of Konoha. Although he didn't wish to, he still found his attention briefly drawn to the large, black structure located far off on the top of a hill overlooking the town. Four cylindrical-shaped pillars surrounded the outer area of the building. It invoked images of an ominous, fire-and-brimstone castle, the kind that would make any demonic overlord or trashy super villain feel right at home.

He had no idea what the building's purpose was, or even when it had been built. It seemed to have just popped up over night three years ago. The only thing he knew for sure was that it was all under the control of a man known as Madara. There was something about it all that made him terribly uneasy. Suddenly, the young man heard Karin bark again at his back, and he shook these dark thoughts from his mind. No sense in worrying about it.

"Alright, just be patient," Sasuke replied, "Let me just make sure that Suigetsu and Juugo get their food too..."

Aside from Karin, Sasuke also owned two other pets who were meant to keep him company; Suigetsu the puffer fish, and a rather timid canary named Juugo. Itachi had purchased Suigetsu as a pet for his younger brother's fifteen birthday, but where his brother had obtained Juugo, considering there weren't any canaries available at the local pet shop, was a total mystery. Nonetheless, Sasuke was grateful to have all three of them. He didn't have many real friends outside of his apartment complex.

Sasuke sprinkled a handful of fish food into Suigetsu's tank, and then placed a bowl of bird seed onto the newspaper that covered the floor of Juugo's cage. The tiny bird twittered happily. Sasuke reached out, rubbing its feathery breast with his index finger. Karin was starting to growl this time, and Sasuke laughed; she really seemed to hate it when he didn't pay her enough attention.

Sasuke stepped out of his bedroom, Karin following close behind, and walked down a short corridor into the kitchen. As expected, Itachi was already seated at the table and eating. He was eating from a bowl of cereal, shoveling corn flakes into his mouth with a spoon in one hand while holding the local newspaper in his other. His eyes absorbed the lengthy strings of words with ease; he had always been a fast reader.

"Morning," Sasuke mumbled. He had forgotten how sleepy he still felt.

"Good to see that you're finally up," Itachi remarked without looking up, "You won't wake up when I knock on your door, but you'll wake up when that stupid dog wants you to feed her, huh?"

Sasuke ignored him. His brother had a tendency to be a smart-alack in the morning. He walked over to the sink counter, opening the bottom-most door to take out a bag of Karin's special dog food. Sasuke opened the bag and poured several cup-fulls into Karin's bowl. The hungry dog watched her master's food-preparing process with an intense, wide-eyed stare.

Itachi flipped through the pages of the newspaper. He never seemed to settle onto a single page for more than a minute or so. "By the way, Sasuke?" he began.

"What?"

"You sleep alright last night?"

Sasuke placed the filled bowl in front of Karin, who immediately began to eat. "...Yes." he replied after a moment's hesitation. He couldn't bring himself to tell his brother about the dream. It's not like he'd really believe him either.

"That's good to hear. My night hadn't been such a smooth ride, unfortunately. My eyes were hurting like hell! I couldn't keep them closed for barely a few seconds! Eventually, the pain went away, but it still hurts a little right now."

"If they hurt, maybe you should stop straining them by reading that newspaper?"

"Nah, no way, little brother. I control my eyes, they don't control me."

Sasuke sighed. Itachi was always like that. He didn't seem to put much thought into caring for himself, only for making sure that Sasuke was safe and healthy. It was his greatest fault but also the only thing that helped Sasuke to retain a somewhat-stable life. After their parents had died in a car accident, Itachi immediately set himself to work at any odd-jobs he could get. Sasuke helped him out sometimes, as well, but it was mainly Itachi's work that brought dinner to the table. The last thing Sasuke would want was for something terrible to happen to his big brother. He didn't know what he would do if that happened. Not only was he the prominent provider, he was Sasuke's closest and most reliable family member as well.

"Just be careful, okay?" Sasuke remarked in a stern tone of voice. It had been like this between the two of them for ages. Sometimes, depending on circumstances, they switched between who was the more responsible of the two, but it always had to be one of them. It was the best they could do to make up for the lack of real parental guidance.

Itachi dully nodded his head, barely listening. "Yeah, Yeah..."

"You have a lot of work on your list for today, right?" Sasuke asked as he bent down to pick up Karin's now-empty dish. The dog barked happily, trotting circles around her master's legs. She was always most cheery after breakfast time. Itachi nodded in response to his brother's query.

"That's right. I'll be working as waiter at the Akamichi family's buffet place first, and then I have to help sort out all the old letters and files at the Nara Post Office. I probably won't be back home until really late tonight, so be prepared to make yourself dinner."

"Sounds hard."

"It is; which is why I'm going to need you to take over for me for the third job."

"What?" Sasuke nearly dropped his glass into the sink, but stopped himself just in the nick of the time.

"What do you mean 'what'? It's Saturday, you don't have any homework, and you already know that you have to help with work every now and then! I need you to do this for me! I won't have enough time in the day to make it over to the Yamanaka flower shop!"

Sasuke sighed. "The flower shop? Again?" he groaned.

"Why? What's the problem?" This time, Itachi finally looked up from his paper, and glanced at his brother from over the shoulder.

"That Ino girl who works there is such a pain; She's always flirting with me while I'm trying to work! Even worse, I can't yell at her to fuck off, because her dad owns the store." Sasuke took out a bowl for himself this time, and began pouring cereal into it. He didn't care much about what he ate for breakfast, just like his older brother.

Itachi shrugged. "You're the first guy I've ever heard actually complain about cute girls giving him attention. But I do understand how ya feel with this particular girl; when I'm there, she's constantly badgering me to tell her everything about you! But just try and put up with it, okay? And, you know, maybe she'll stop pulling this crap all the time if you actually took her out for once...?"

"Never!"

Shaking his head and sighing, Sasuke sat down at the table beside his brother. He casually glanced at the newspaper; it was open on the page for town news. There was a small article concerning the death of a merchant named Jiraiya, who had died in his sleep, choking on his own blood.


	2. The Middle

The Yamanaka flower shop was quite far from the apartment complex where Itachi and Sasuke lived. It was located almost halfway across the town, and the brothers lacked access to any kind of personal automobile to drive there. The town's bus route didn't stop anywhere close enough to the store, either. Thus, Sasuke decided to simply walk all the way. There was no harm in getting a little morning exercise.

"Alright, if you that's what you're going to do, then hop to it! Remember to make sure to do exactly what the manager says, and if Ino keeps flirting with you, just put up with it!"

"I know that already! I'll see you later, okay?"

"Adios."

After a few minutes of walking to the end of the floor corridor and down the main stairwell, Sasuke reached the front door of the building. He stepped outside, pausing for a moment to take in his surroundings, the surroundings that he was so very familiar with. Thin, rectangular buildings were sandwiched together into perfect alignment with each other, forming a line that seemed to go on for miles into the distance. On many of the buildings, the colorful paint that covered their bodies was now worn and chipped with age, some of it blemished further by the markings of graffiti or torn posters. Small cracks and holes riddled the sidewalk, and some of the streets were still in the process of being repaired. Although it was a place that might appear frightening to some people, it was generally a lot more peaceful than it looked. Nonetheless, it was one of the poorer sections of town, the only place that Sasuke and Itachi could afford to live.

'Well...better get going,' Sasuke thought to himself.

He began to walk. As he walked, he watched as the scenery around him steadily changed into a more suburban-like setting, with separate houses and their own separate yards, more trees, and even more stores. It was the place where most of his acquaintances and friends lived. Sasuke glanced skyward. The sun was hidden behind a thick veil of gray clouds, yet there had been no forecast concerning rain on the weather channel that morning. Even more peculiar was that these clouds gathered over the town quite often. Not once did it ever rain when they did.

However, before he had the chance to ponder further, Sasuke was suddenly knocked over by a large, gray dog.

"Holy crap!" Sasuke toppled onto his back, and the dog stared down at him, its slobbery, pink tongue dangling inches from his face. It certainly wasn't the sleek and slender type of dog that Karin was. However, Sasuke still recognized this dog well. They had met many times in the past. His name was Kiba.

"Hey! Hey, Kiba, you can't just go running off – oh crap! Did you tackle someone AGAIN?"

A young man about Sasuke's age approached the two of them. Unusually, he had hair that was pure white, and his face seemed somewhat canine-like in appearance. At the moment, he was breathing heavily, clutching a dog leash in his left hand. There was a smudge or two of dirt on his t-shirt. Sasuke and the young man stared blankly at each other for a brief few seconds. It had been a long time since they had met.

"Uh, hey, Akamaru," Sasuke gave a small wave.

"H-Hey...you alright?"

'Yeah, I'm fine." Sasuke pushed himself up to a stand, brushing off any dirt that may have clung to his clothes. Kiba continued to stare up at him as if waiting for something. The way its large, coal-colored eyes seemed to bore into his soul was unnerving.

Akamaru grinned sheepishly. "Hey, I'm really sorry about that, Sasuke; I dunno what happened. One moment I had Kiba on the leash, and suddenly he broke free. He's been acting kind of weird lately, to be honest. You're not hurt, are you?" The look of concern in his eyes was real.

"Nah, I'm okay," Sasuke shrugged, replying, "I was...a bit caught off-guard, I guess,"

"Well, if you're sure-" Akamaru had little chance to say much else, as suddenly Kiba let out a deep bark and sprinted away again. The boy shouted out a hasty good-bye before disappearing around the corner of a house. Kiba's rampant barking echoed through the air even after they were long gone from sight. Sasuke sighed, shrugged to himself, and continued walking. This time, he took notice of the many different people he passed by on his way to work. And he knew just about all of them in one way or another.

There was old man Onoki, a tiny, back-broken package of grumpiness that had a bad tendency to throw rocks at anyone who stepped on his lawn. He was generally cared for by his son and granddaughter, although even they had trouble with him sometimes. Sasuke had only seen him once before and had fortunately been able to dodge the geezer's flying stones; the rest of the details had been filled in by Itachi.

In the house next to them lived the three 'Suna' siblings, as they were called. The oldest one was Temari, who worked as a freelance seamstress, and she had even hired Sasuke in the past to help deliver her finished products. She had a lot of talent in her work. Kankuro was apparently a master puppeteer, but Sasuke never met him. The third member of their family, a young man named Gaara, tended to keep to himself in his room. There were rumors that he had some sort of mental illness. Sasuke couldn't say for sure what the truth was, though.

Also living on that street was the young couple Yahiko and Konan. Although they both shared a bizarre passion in designing tattoos, body piercings and hipster clothing, they were probably some of the friendliest people Sasuke had ever met. They had married back in college, when Konan got pregnant, although apparently they had planned it all out in the beginning. Their tiny son Nagato was as interested in studying amphibians as his parents were with attaching metal ornaments to noses and lips. Sasuke sometimes kept the small boy company per request of the parents, and was paid well enough for it.

Sasuke thought about all of the others he could name; Anko, a middle-aged woman who was always griping over having been dumped by 'potential soul-mates'. There was also Sai, the artist behind one of the most popular comic series to hit the shelves. Ten-Ten, the easily-overlooked weapons specialist who ran her own little gun and blade store. There was Sakura, one of Sasuke's few female friends and overall slacker who dropped out of high school, and the Hyuga cousins, who lived together in an old-styled family setting despite their dislike for each other. Iruka the school teacher lived somewhere close by to.

Suddenly, Sasuke stopped. His eyes grew wide, and his hands curled into fists. Why...why was he getting so angry by thinking about them? It was the same kind of anger he felt whenever he thought back to his repeating dream. The images of so many happy, smiling faces flashed through his mind, spinning all around him in a whirlwind. They were laughing at him and his brother. The anger inside of Sasuke kept rising and rising. It made him want to hurt something. It made him want to kill something. It made him want to kill those people for laughing at his expense. Why did their families get to live? Why do they get to be happy while he is left being miserable?

'No...what am I doing, thinking these things! I can't...I can't stop!' Sasuke gripped his head in both hands. His head was pounding so hard it felt like it could crack his skull. He wanted to scream, but he knew if he did, it would attract unwanted attention. His heart quickened, his blood boiled, his legs were shaking. It was too much to take. For an instant, in the depths of his own mind, he thought he saw something like a pinwheel.

And then, in the instant that it all happened, it went away. Sasuke blinked. The pain was gone, and so was his rage.

Sasuke stared at his sweat-stained palms with a furrowed brow.

'What WAS that?'

It didn't take long for him to calm down, and unfortunately, he knew that there was no way he could get a reliable answer to what had just transpired. He wasn't even sure if he should mention it; it might cause people to question his sanity. It had frightened him, sure, but that was it. There was no real harm done. Sasuke sighed, and picked up his pace to the flower shop. He just wanted to get this job over and done with already.

'Maybe I'm just tired...'

There were no more complications throughout the rest of Sasuke's walk. At one point, a white-haired old beggar with a scarf covering his face asked for some change, but Sasuke was more than willing to spare at least a dollar to the hobo. For some reason, he reminded Sasuke of someone from a long time ago, but he wasn't sure who. That was the only other notable thing that happened.

As Sasuke approached the Yamanaka flower shop, he caught sight of two figures standing outside in wait for him: the owner and manager of the shop, Inoichi Yamanaka, and his ever-present daughter, Ino. A scrowl crossed Sasuke's lips; he just hoped Ino would leave him alone, but the girl was quite impulsive, and getting on the bad side of both her and her father was a bad idea.

"Yo, Sasuke! You finally made it! Sorry we couldn't send the truck over to pick you up; we need to save the gas for today's delivery! I'm glad you made it here without any trouble!" Inoichi let out a soft chuckle. Ino said nothing, her stare firmly focused on the young man. She was undressing him with her eyes.

"Hello, sir. Good morning. We're doing a delivery? So we're going to be bringing some flowers somewhere today?"

"Yeah, although they're less flowers than ornamental plants; aloe vera, to be exact. One hundred aloe vera saplings, both white and black hybrids. Pretty expensive stuff."

Sasuke arched an eyebrow. "That's, uh, quite a lot, isn't it?"

"That's right. Even more surprising, is that the place we have to take these things to is that freaky lab up on the hill. It was a request from Madara himself."

Sasuke's eyes widened. He knew that he should just ignore taking a chance, like everything else that's been happening in his life, but this was the first time that he knew he could actually do something. He couldn't figure out what his dreams meant, or why he had felt so angry earlier. Those were things that were intangible. But he was capable of sneaking into that building and find out what Madara was doing. It was probably heavily guarded, and Inoichi clearly wouldn't approve, but he couldn't push the idea out of his mind. Sasuke had a feeling that whatever Madara was doing was affecting the town in more ways than one. This may be his only chance.

"Alright, then we should get started right away, huh?"


	3. The End

"...You know, I just don't understand Mayor Tsunade sometimes. She never seems to do a lot of work; she always leaves it to that poor assistant girl of hers. Sure, she can be a good leader when she wants to be, but she's made a lot of changes to the town that I just can't agree with. It ain't right, I tell ya! She's even a recovering alcoholic, I heard! That's why I plan to vote for that new guy who's going to run this year, his name was, uh...damn, I can't even remember his name. He never really stood out, I guess. He has some really good ideas, though. He said that he was going to fix the taxes and everything..."

"Uh-huh," Sasuke wasn't listening; he continued to gaze out of the window as their surroundings rushed past them. Inoichi had been discussing politics since the moment they started up the truck, and not once so far did it occur to him that neither Sasuke nor Ino had the slightest idea of what he was talking about. They were only teenagers, after all.

"...Sasuke?"

"Huh?" Sasuke jumped. Ino was the one who had addressed him. She was seated between Inoichi and Sasuke, and although it was quite cramped, the blonde was more than willing to be pressed against the object of her affection. Sasuke looked over his shoulder to see Ino smiling sadly at him.

"What is it?" Sasuke asked.

"I'm sorry about my dad being annoying like this..." she winced; she really did seem to care about what he thought about her and her family. Sasuke stared at her for a few seconds, and then his eyes shifted back to the window. He wished she would just get over him, if not for his sake, then at least her own. She deserved someone better.

"It's fine, don't worry about it. My brother can be a real pain sometimes too," Sasuke replied.

Ino's cheeks were painted red in her embarrassment. "Oh...t-thanks..."

The two of them remained silent as Inoichi continued to talk loudly over the blaring radio. It did not take much longer before they had reached a small gate at the bottom of the hill. A guard station was positioned nearby to identify anyone who had business beyond the fence. The guard was a fearsome-looking giant of a man; his ID tag only read the letter A. As the truck moved past him, Sasuke couldn't shake the feeling that he had seen this man somewhere before, in a different time, a different setting. He had no idea what his memories were trying to tell him.

Sasuke was able to get a better look at the building now. It was painted black all over, intimidating even from a distance. The looming columns surrounding it were covered in long, metal wires that coiled around them like hundreds of gray serpents. Huge pipes, lengthy antennas, and transmitter dishes jutted out from all corners in total disarray. It all seemed so technologically advanced, like something pulled straight out of a science-fiction movie.

"Ah, here we are! Finally!" Inoichi flashed a small grin to his younger passengers that wasn't returned.

The truck screeched to a long-drawn halt. Inoichi climbed out of the driver's seat and walked around back to open up begin unloading the plants. Ino and Sasuke followed suit. They were soon approached by a pair of men in uniform, named Hidan and Kakuzu, who offered to help them with bringing in the plants. Madara was very specific about the plants coming in, they said, and he would send the entire order back if a single one of them was damaged in any way.

"Hell, he once had a whole banana tree imported from Brazil, but after finding out it lost a few of its leaves during the boat-ride over here, he had it thrown out!"

"Well, that certainly is, uh, odd..." Inoichi muttered in a quiet voice.

"Just give us a moment; we'll get out a cart to bring them in. We're gonna need it."

"That sounds very helpful! Thank you!"

Sasuke had only taken out a small number of potted plants from the truck when he looked up at the laboratory for what seemed like the twentieth time. His curiosity was getting the better of him again. He had no intent on missing out what could be his one and only chance to discover the truth behind the structure's existence. He walked a little closer to Ino as they carried a pair of white aloe vera plants.

"Ino...I need you to do something for me,"

"What is it?"

"I'm going to sneak off into the building, and see what's inside. I need you to tell your dad that I just went to the bathroom or something, okay? And keep him from actually going inside to check on me; do you think you can do that for me?"

Ino nearly dropped the plant in her arms. "W-What? Are you serious? Sasuke...you, you can't do that! You're just going to get yourself caught! And we have a job to do, you know!"

"You're right, but still...I can't just let this go. That Madara bastard is up to something, for sure. I mean, just look at this place! It's bigger than almost any building in our town! What could he possibly be hiding inside? I have to know!"

"Sasuke..."

"Please, Ino. If you do this for me, I promise that I'll...I'll..." Sasuke knew exactly what the blonde would want to hear, but he hesitated to actually say it. It would mean giving in to her pitiful behavior.

"What is it?" With the way Ino's eyes sparkled so brightly, she must have had a pretty good idea already.

"...I'll go on a date with you." Sasuke grumbled.

It took all of Ino's might to keep herself from happily crying out. "Yes! I knew it! I'll definitely help you out, Sasuke, as long as you keep your promise...and you better come back as soon as you can! There's only so long someone can 'be using the bathroom' before people get suspicious!"

"Yeah, I know. Thanks, Ino."

Sasuke placed the aloe vera onto the cart, and began walking back to the truck. However, after making sure no one else was looking, Sasuke continued to move past the truck and towards the open door from where Kakuzu and Hidan had brought out the cart. For a moment, just as he was about to pass through the doorway, he paused. All he could see in front of him was a large hallway that seemed to go on forever. Menacing shadows stretched, twisted and curled along the walls, strange and horrible monsters that existed only in the imagination. Sasuke took a deep breath, and stepped inside.

Ino had been watching out of the corner of her eye, and she felt her heart skip a beat when she saw him disappear into the building. She hoped to God that he would be able to get out of this safely. Nonetheless, she also couldn't help but think of how incredibly cool he was, too.

Sasuke didn't bother to take his time walking. He sprinted down the hallway as fast as his legs would allow. He had to get as far away from the others as possible; he couldn't let himself be seen even once. Eventually, he arrived at a door at the very end of the hall. Sasuke reached out, grasping the doorknob. Strangely, but fortunately, it was unlocked. Sasuke opened the door, went in, and closed it swiftly behind him. What he saw next left him with a gaping mouth in absolute awe.

It was huge. The room itself was about as wide as a football field, and in its very center stood a cylindrical-shaped object that was nearly just as large. It seemed to rise up from the floor and through the ceiling, into the following floors above it. It was covered in a variety of differently-colored blinking lights, and wires upon wires like pulsing veins. There were tubes that pumped pink-colored liquid in and out of the machine; it reminded Sasuke of blood circulating through a body. This cylinder was most likely the source of the building's power and the main component of Madara's scheme, whatever it could be. Sasuke furrowed his brow as he continued to stare at the massive contraption.

'What the hell is this thing...?'

For a moment, he considered touching it, or at least get a little closer.

'No, I probably shouldn't..this thing is probably rigged with some alarms or something, just in case. It looks really important.'

There was nothing else worth of interest in the room, except for a single staircase in the far-right corner. It led up to the second floor.

'I might as well go up, then, I guess...'

As Sasuke climbed higher and higher through the building, he took notice of several oddities. First of all, contrary to his expectations, there were no guards around at all. Not a single one. It didn't make any sense. With such a large and expensive-looking piece of machinery here, there would have had to be some people to keep watch over it. In fact, there didn't even seem to be anyone around who could actually run the thing. In fact, it didn't seem like many of the floors were even used; there was dust gathering all over. The entire place seemed deserted. Did something terrible happen recently? No, Sasuke thought to himself, if that was true, then why would those guards Hidan and Kakuzu still be waiting outside?

"Huff...huff...huff..."

Eventually, after having taken a short break halfway through, Sasuke had reached the twelfth, and final, floor. He was drenched in a cold sheet of sweat, and there was hardly any air left in his lungs. He was thankful that he had reached the top; he wasn't sure if his legs could handle going up another staircase. He looked around; the cylinder machine narrowed out upon reaching the top floor, now no longer any wider than Sasuke's own body. Once his breathing had slowed some, Sasuke started to walk towards it. He saw a small, red button on the side of the machine. It was calling out to him.

'What does this do?' he wondered to himself. He considered between either pressing it or getting the hell out as soon as possible. He slowly reached out his shaking hand, and-

"...Are you sure you still wish to go through this?"

Sasuke froze. Voices, from behind a door he had just noticed. They were getting closer. With little time to think, the young man quickly lunged behind the column to hide himself. He hoped that whoever it was didn't have good enough hearing to hear the boy's heart pounding like a drum. Sasuke waited with bated breath, his eyes glued to the door. And then it opened. Two figures stepped out. Sasuke only recognized one of them, but he knew that the other was most likely Madara.

"Of course I'm sure! Why wouldn't I be? Things are going so well lately!"

"Yes, that's true...but as you know, there have already been a few casualties. No one has suspected anything yet, but their deaths are still on our heads. We will most certainly be put to death ourselves for crimes against humanity if we are caught."

"Ha! You worry too much! Put to death? How will they ever find out we are doing anything illegal? If they did find out, they would just be desperate to cover it up! You are the world's leading scientist, and one of humanity's few who can be depended on in advancing our race into a new and glorious age! And it won't take long for me to rise through the political ranks once I win the position of mayor in this pathetic little town! We are too powerful to be touched by the so-called 'law'!"

"You are surprisingly optimistic,"

"How can I not be? It's all because of this machine...this wonderful machine! Every night, in the dreams I have, I experience such pleasure, such wonderful power, such respect! All of it is mine! Ever since I was a child, I had always wanted to be a 'hero'. Yet, in this cruel, unjust world, I couldn't! I had no power, only money that my dear old father left me! Yes, I could have donated money to charities or aid those in need, but where is the fun in that? That is not the life of the exciting hero I wanted to be! I wanted to be the strongest, to be the one everyone depended on, and to have the most beautiful women constantly fawning over me. I wanted to be the hero of my own legendary tale! And now, with the money I've poured into your project and the 'help' of dear Konoha town, I am getting ever closer."

Sasuke watched as Madara's companion threw his head back, and unleashed a truly inhumane laugh. "The dreams I experience every night...it's really like I've been transported into a fantasy world! I only remember everything that I did after I wake up, but it still feels so real whenever I think about it. I am the one who will save Konoha from a devastating war, and unite the ninja countries because of my heroic deeds! Even better, with you working as the 'villain', it means I will be able to win no matter what happens! I may even be able to save my 'friend' Sasuke in the process! I will be the hero I've always aspired to be!"

"You truly love to make speeches, don't you?" Madara sneered.

"Yeah? So what? It's apart of my role as a politician, you know!"

Sasuke couldn't believe what he was hearing. The man behind the strange dreams plaguing the town's people, as well as the deaths of several men and women already, was Naruto Uzumaki, the top mayoral candidate in Konoha Town and one of the richest men in the country. The scars he had on his cheeks, left behind by what had apparently been a rapid fox attack in his youth, seemed to flash red in the dim glow of the machine. Suddenly, Naruto's head snapped in his direction, eyes bulging and bloodshot. Sasuke's heart seemed to stop.

"Huh. It looks like someone actually had the balls to sneak in here, eh?"

Sasuke gave up on trying to hide; he screamed at the top of his lungs. The boy desperately scrambled to his feet and started to run. He did not get far before he felt a strong hand grab hold of his shirt's collar. He wasn't able to take another step. His legs were kicked out from underneath him, and he collided face-first against the tiled floor. It hurt, badly. Sasuke felt something spurt warm out from his nose. Blood. Naruto kicked him in the back of the head several times, which only worsened the damage.

"Now, now, let's see who the hell you are,"

Sasuke was rolled over onto his back by a painful kick to his ribs. He saw Naruto standing over him, his expression like that of a dog's that had just found a new chew-toy to play with. Madara stood off to the side, ever-present, yet still keeping just out of touch. He didn't want to have anything to do with this. Naruto leaned in a little closer, and Sasuke shivered.

"Hey, now, I recognize you," the blonde man said, "You...you're Uchiha Sasuke, aren't you? Why, the man I'm so determined to save from his own hatred! What a surprise! I never thought I'd get to meet you in person! Hmm, you're alot younger than I expected, though. What do you think you're doing here?"

Sasuke didn't say anything. He didn't want to risk getting Ino or her father in trouble, nor could he speak easily if he wanted to; his mouth was filled with blood from his nose, and several of his teeth were broken. It hurt too much to speak as it was. He was terrified out of his mind.

"Not going to talk? Too bad...I had hoped that one day we could have a chat and maybe reach an understanding without fighting...but then I realized that beating the shit out of each other with magical ninja techniques was much more fun. I hope you put up a good fight with that new Sharingan of yours!"

Sasuke had no idea what this insane man was talking about.

"P...Please..." Sasuke choked out, "Just...just let me go! I'm b-b-begging you! I promise I won't tell anyone...please!"

Naruto looked over at Madara. "What do you think? Should I let him go?"

"No." Madara shook his head, "His is a young boy of 16. Of course he is going to tell someone. Anyone would. Why wouldn't he? We need to nip this little problem in the bud right here and now."

"...Ah, okay, that makes sense. I guess we're gonna need to put you into a very long sleep, my dear friend Sasuke. We can't have you messing up the dream by dying right now, got it?"

Sasuke started to sob; why in the world did this have to happen? Just what were they going to do to him?

"Say 'ahh', Sasuke," Naruto reached into his breast-pocket and took out a small, purple capsule. It definitely wasn't any kind of over-the-counter drug. Sasuke had little time to react before Naruto had shoved it into his mouth. It tasted like nothing. Naruto started to laugh that ear-piercing laugh again.

Only moments later it began to take effect, and Sasuke felt himself slowly slipping away. It wouldn't be long before he blacked out.

This was it, he knew. He wanted to cry, to scream, anything to get away from here. He had let himself get into something too deep and dangerous, and now he was paying the price. This was what happened to those who tried to pry open 'Pandora's Box'. At the very least, he wanted to apologize to Itachi. But...it was all over...

"Sweet dreams."

* * *

><p>Uchiha Sasuke stood in the middle of the pouring thunderstorm, the charred corpses of many Zetsu clones strewn about like rag-dolls. A maniacal smile seemed permanently etched on his face. He was impressed by how much more powerful his Susanno had become after obtaining the Eternal Mangekyo Sharingan. He looked up at the sky; it was raining just like this on the day that he had killed his beloved older brother.<p>

'Big brother...'

Sasuke placed his sword back into its sheathe, and his eyes narrowed. He knew where he had to go now.

'I'll kill all of them for what they did, betraying the Uchiha...every last person in Konoha! They will pay with their lives!'

And then he ran. He ran with the energy that could only come from someone fueled by vengeance. It was a vengeance brought about by hatred and sadness.

And being unaware of the truth behind it all.


End file.
